Warner Bros.-Seven Arts

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Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc.
IndustryFilm
Television
Music
GenreEntertainment
PredecessorWarner Bros. Pictures, Inc. (1923-1967)
Seven Arts Productions (1957-1967)
FoundedJuly 15, 1967; 56 years ago (1967-07-15)[1]
DefunctDecember 16, 1969; 54 years ago (1969-12-16)[2]
FateAcquired by Kinney National Company and rebranded as Warner Bros. Inc.
SuccessorWarner Bros. Inc. (1969-present)
Headquarters,
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Jack L. Warner
Kenneth Hyman
ParentKinney National Company (1969)
SubsidiariesWarner Bros.-Seven Arts Television
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records
Atlantic Records
Seven Arts Productions
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was an American entertainment company active from 1967 until 1969.

History[edit]

Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack L. Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures for $32 million in November 1966.[3][4][5] The merger between the two companies was completed by July 15, 1967, and the combined company was named Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

The acquisition included Warner Bros. Records (which was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records), and Reprise Records. Later that same year, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts purchased Atlantic Records. Those record labels were combined in 1971 with two other acquisitions (Elektra Records and its sister label Nonesuch Records) in a new holding company, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, under the direction of Mo Ostin[6] and Joe Smith.

The head of production was Kenneth Hyman, son of Seven Arts co-founder Eliot Hyman. The first film of production and distribution was Reflections in a Golden Eye. Cool Hand Luke was the final film produced by Warner Bros. Pictures before and after changing its name.

Acquisition by Kinney[edit]

On July 4, 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was acquired by Kinney National Company, and, in August that year, Ted Ashley became the chairman of the film studio. On December 16, 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was rebranded as Warner Bros. Inc.

The final film to be released under the Warner Bros.-Seven Arts name was Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, which was released in February 1970. The studio's next film, Woodstock, which was released in March, was credited as a Warner Bros. production, and this credit would be applied to all other productions from the studio afterward with Warner Bros. reestablished as a major film studio.

In September 1971, due to a financial scandal in its parking lot operation business,[7] Kinney National spun off its non-entertainment assets as National Kinney Corporation, and changed its name to Warner Communications Inc. on February 10, 1972.

Filmography[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Amended Proposed Decision" (PDF). www.justice.gov. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  2. ^ Newspaper.com (16 December 1969). "Warner Bros. Drops Name of Seven Arts". Valley Times. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  3. ^ Warner Sperling, Cass (Director) (2008). The Brothers Warner (DVD film documentary). Warner Sisters, Inc. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Company History". warnerbros.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Warner Brothers Records Story". bsnpubs.com. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Mo Ostin Biography". rockhall.com. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  7. ^ "List of corporate scandals". Financial Analyses. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2015.